


In a Box

by thePetetoherPatrick



Series: Kiss Me You Animal [3]
Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cat, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Feels, Fluff, M/M, Mild Mention of Death, Pagan Holiday, Vampire Kitty!Pete, Yule, holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 11:26:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13075887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thePetetoherPatrick/pseuds/thePetetoherPatrick
Summary: (((Part 3 of Kiss Me You Animal)))“Oh...so we’re trying to find a tree for the apartment then.”“Yes, I can’t get anything too big though.”“What does that have to do with the small horde of pinecones and branches in your bag?”





	In a Box

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laudanum_cafe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laudanum_cafe/gifts).



> First of all Blessed Be and a Blessed Yule to all reading this. 
> 
> I initially wasn't sure I was going to write this but I think ***laudanum_cafe*** would have had my head if I didn't. I'm happy with how it came out and I love my Vampire Kitty!Pete so of course I had to revisit him. 
> 
> Enjoy xoxo

 

Patrick hummed happily as he stretched up to reach the box on the top shelf in his closet. It was just out of his reach and he could barely get the edge with his fingers.

 

“Shit. You have got to be kidding me. Who the hell put this up there?”

 

He grumbled to himself as he reached a little further and cursed under his breath. He looked up at the stupid box and shook his head. He went out to the kitchen and grabbed the least wobbly chair from the table to drag back to the closet. He climbed up onto it as carefully as he could.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Patrick screamed and jumped, falling off the chair and into someone’s arms. He opened his eyes to look up at Pete and he frowned.

 

“Put me down, you dick. Why would you scared me like that? Unlike you I’m not indestructible, remember?”

 

“I’m not indestructible, just not a delicate.”

 

Pete shook his head.

 

“What were you doing up there in the first place though?”

 

“Trying to get that box down because some idiot put it where I can’t reach it and I want to say it was probably my brother.”

 

Pete chuckled and looked up at it.

 

“Well I think I’m too short to reach it too but I’ll hold you steady if you wanna try that again.”

 

Patrick nodded and climbed up carefully, with Pete’s hands at his hips to keep him from wobbling or falling again. He pulled the box off the shelf and squeaked when Pete picked him up and set him on the floor.

 

“So what’s in the box?”

 

“Fun. And you’re going to help.”

 

“But what if I don’t wanna?”

 

Patrick gave Pete a look and Pete nodded.

 

“I’m gonna help.”

 

Patrick grinned.

 

“Good.”

 

He pushed up on his toes and kissed Pete on the cheek, then he went back out to the kitchen and set the box on the table to open it up. Pete leaned over his shoulder to see what it was and raised an eyebrow at it.

 

“What the hell?”

 

“Don’t tell me you don’t celebrate the holidays.”

 

“Yeah, I sort of celebrate Christmas but that looks like a forest threw up in a box.”

 

“I oughta smack you. Go put these candles on the window sills.”

 

Patrick handed him some candles that he’d carved designs into himself and painted with gold paint to make them stand out. He started putting out the handmade decorations representing different parts of the Winter Solstice.

 

“We’ve gotta get a few things still, by the way.”

 

Patrick said and Pete looked over at him with a confused expression.

 

“Ok…”

 

Patrick chuckled at the uncertainty in Pete’s voice but shook his head and went back to pulling things out of the box, sputtering when he got a faceful of glitter that’d fallen off the candles. Pete laughed and guffawed behind Patrick as he glared at the glitter all over him. He swatted him and grumbled at him quietly as he brushed off the glitter the best he could. Pete continued to laugh so Patrick glared at him before putting his hands firmly on either side of Pete’s face and kissed him firmly. He then proceeded to rub his face on Pete’s cheek and neck. Pete squawked and protested.

 

“No! You’re covered in glitter! Get off of me!”

 

Patrick chuckled and wandered away to finish putting out candles.

 

“So you said we had some stuff to get still?”

 

“Yeah, you’re gonna want your winter boots I got you.”

 

“Um……”

 

~~~~~

 

Pete carried the axe Patrick had given him over his shoulder as they trudged through knee high snow in the woods way outside of the city.

 

“So what are we doing out here exactly? Besides you picking up pinecones and little branches, that is.”

 

Patrick looked at Pete as he shoved another pinecone in his satchel.

 

“Looking at trees.”

 

“Looking at trees?”

 

“Did I stutter?”

 

“No…”

 

Patrick sighed and shook his head.

 

“Pete, what do people do at Christmas?”

 

“They...give each other gifts and have family dinners?”

 

“Ok and where do they put their gifts?”

 

“Under...a Christmas tree…”

 

“Exactly, except that concept existed long before Christmas was celebrated.”

 

“Oh...so we’re trying to find a tree for the apartment then.”

 

“Yes, I can’t get anything too big though.”

 

“What does that have to do with the small horde of pinecones and branches in your bag?”

 

“Decorations, worry about that later. Tree, Peter, focus.”

 

“Ok, ok. Fine, let’s find a tree.”

 

~~~~~

 

Pete frowned as he tried to shove a needle and thread through a piece of popcorn for about the seven hundred and eighty sixth time. He threaded it onto the string with the other pieces and smiled. He wasn’t sure why Patrick wanted him to do this but it was a simple and calming. The tree they had gotten was kind of small but it was pretty and Patrick had dug out a little stand for it and put it in the corner away from the windows and candles. He’d added a few decorations but moved to working on the pinecones and branches he picked up. It took a little bit before Pete figured out what he was doing. He was making his own wreath and the pinecones were decorations for the tree. He used pretty ribbons to hold the wreath together and make it look nice. It was hanging on the front door and he was sitting, cross legged on the floor, painting pinecones.

 

“Hey, Patrick, how many more on this string do you think?”

 

Patrick looked over at Pete and furrowed his brows.

 

“I made the string the length it needs to be, just do the whole thing.”

 

“I’m gonna need more popcorn then.”

 

“You know where it is.”

 

Pete frowned and went over to crouch behind Patrick.

 

“And just why are you so sassy and grumpy today?”

 

Patrick looked up at Pete and frowned.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I’ve been getting snipped at all day. Are you ok? Did I do something?”

 

“What? No. I’m fine. You didn’t do anything…”

 

Patrick sighed and looked at the pinecone in front of him. Pete could feel the shudder in his breathing that meant he was upset.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“I just...I usually just spend Yule by myself, I’m not used to having others here and I wanted it to be good this year. I wanted to show you...I guess I just stressed myself out and ruined it anyways.”

 

“No, you didn’t ruin it. Despite the snow and wet feet I had fun bringing the tree home and watching you be picky about pine cones.  You’re doing a good job so far.”

 

Pete leaned and kissed his cheek.

 

“You have been very cranky and stressed today though, so how about I make you some tea and you just focus on your pinecones. Okay?”

 

Patrick nodded and kissed Pete’s jaw.

 

“Oh! Can you go get the wrapped presents out of the linen closet?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Pete went over to the little closet and pulled out the neatly stacked pile hiding at the bottom. He brought it out and Patrick pointed at the tree.

 

“You know this doesn’t seem all that different from Christmas.”

 

“In truth it’s not, but they copied a lot from us. The meaning is different though and we do somethings a little differently.”

 

Patrick held up the pinecone he was painting.

 

“You don’t have to make your own decorations and you don’t have to do it every year I guess but I like it. I only get new candles every couple years.”

 

Pete nodded and went to put on the kettle for Patrick’s tea and put some popcorn in the microwave. He waited for it to be ready and took both the tea and the bowl of popcorn over beside Patrick. He grabbed his strand of popcorn and sat down beside him. He went back to stringing the popcorn together.

 

“So what is Yule? If it’s not the same as Christmas.”

 

“Well for one thing it has nothing to do with Jesus or any of that nonsense. It’s the Winter Solstice. The shortest day of the year but also the longest night. It’s a turning time that is marked with generosity and peace and family. It’s kind of like a reset. Everything dies down now to be reborn in the spring.”

 

Pete contemplated the insinuation of that and smiled.

 

“I think I like that better than Christmas. It makes sense. Why would they copy the holiday though?”

 

“They wanted people to convert. Why would people leave behind a belief system that gave them something to celebrate during the cold dead months for a much stricter religion with nothing like that? They took the traditions and twisted them to suit their beliefs. It’s been modernized and further ruined by consumerism though.”

 

“So...Santa Claus?”

 

“Oh St. Nicholas was real but he was just a man. He was amazing but just an ordinary man. The Santa Claus thing is a mix of his image, the old traditions of other cultures, and modern consumerist crap meant to boost sales across the board.”

 

Pete wrinkled his nose and made a face.

 

“Yeah, Yule encourages any gifts to be handmade. Something from the heart or that will help in the coming year. You don’t have to but I think it’s nice. I kind of do a mix, homemade and things I see when I’m out that I think people will like.”

 

Pete hummed happily at the notion and continued to thread popcorn.

 

~~~~~

 

Pete yawned and stretched. It was late and Patrick had fallen asleep. They’d gone out to get the tree at around six that night because the sun was long gone and couldn’t make Pete too tired to help carry it. Pete kept strange hours but it worked for them. He hummed and looked at the time and smiled. It wasn’t even midnight yet. He gathered up his now finished popcorn strand and wound it very gently around the tree like a garland. He scooped up the pinecones, now painted and with strings, and scattered them on the tree among the decorations that were already there. Some were really cute little trinkets and some were just those plastic coloured ball ornaments but it looked like Patrick had painted symbols and designs on those himself. There was no star on top, no angel. Pete wasn’t sure why or if there was supposed to be something there but he didn’t question it. Some of the gifts underneath were addressed to Patrick’s friends or his mom and a couple were for Pete. He felt bad because he hadn’t gotten Patrick anything. He thought about it for a minute and then got a really dumb idea. He went over to the window and slipped outside into the brisk cold wind.

 

It was calm and quiet, the sky looking like it was going to snow again. He climbed down to street level and started walking. He had a ways to go and he knew it was a stupid and dangerous idea but it was a chance he wanted to take.

 

He reached the other end of the city, warehouses and studio apartments were plentiful. There were a few houses crammed in between buildings and they were old. Pete wasn’t immortal, that was true but he was old and he would live for a long time. He stood in front of one of the oldest houses and smiled. He remembered when it was built. He was only a child then and it was a long time ago but it’d been his home. One of them. His family travelled every twenty years or so but he’d been born here. His eyes stung with tears and he took a deep breath. He hadn’t been back here since the Hunters had chased them off. He went around the back to the old, gnarled looking apple tree that was taller than the house. He carefully climbed up to the little balcony and looked inside. He didn’t see anything inside to suggest danger. He opened the door and slipped inside. He knew he had what he was looking for here somewhere. This was his room. He crawled over to his bed and reached underneath till his hand hit a wooden box. He smiled as he pulled it out. He smiled at it gently and looked around. He grabbed his old beat up bag and shoved the box in it. He got up to leave and stopped when he saw the little box on the dresser.

 

He picked it up in his hand and his heart ached. It's been so long since he’d even thought about it. He opened it and looked at it’s contents. He smiled at it and had a new thought that started to bloom in his head. It made every fiber of his being feel like it was tingling and on fire. He shoved it in his pocket and headed for the window when something else caught his eye. A piece of paper he didn’t recognize. He grabbed it and shoved it in the bag before ducking out the window and crawling back down. He’d been here too long already and if the Hunters caught him now he was done for. He slinked through the shadow all the way home, keeping an eye out and watching everything that moved.

 

He felt much more relieved when he reached the top of the fire escape and slipped back inside where no Hunter could dream of getting to him. He looked at Patrick, still sleeping on the floor where he’d been. He set the bag down and scooped Patrick up his arms to take him in to his bed and tuck him in. He wandered back out to find the wrapping paper and some tape. He wrapped the box and put it under the tree. He kept the other one in his pocket and sat on the couch for a minute. He looked at the paper that had been on his desk. He opened it reluctantly and recognized the writing. His mother’s elegant writing scrawling across the page. He read it and as he did his eyes burned, tears threatening to spill over as his heart broke in two. He didn’t know when he shifted after that but he knew he had. He crawled out into the bedroom and up beside Patrick to curl up on his chest. His ears drooping and his body shivering a little as he tried to fall asleep.

 

~~~~~

 

Patrick woke up in the morning with Pete curled up on his chest and he was in bed, which he didn’t remember moving to. He figured Pete moved him. He picked up the little cat and set him aside to go out to get some tea ready. He stopped when he saw an unfamiliar present under the tree. He frowned and then realized the tree was fully decorated. He looked back towards the bedroom and smiled, Pete must have finished it while Patrick was asleep. It looked nice. He saw Pete’s clothes on the couch and sighed. He shook his head as he picked them up to fold them when something fell out of the pocket and tumbled under the table, along with a paper that fell to the floor.

 

Patrick sighed and crawled down to get it, he picked up the paper and looked just to see what it was. He didn’t recognize the writing but it was addressed to ‘Petey’. He started to skim it but frowned and stopped to restart and actually read it. He gasped and covered his mouth with his hand to muffle the sound. It was from Pete’s mother and nothing in it was good. They were gone. All of them. Pete was left alone to fend for himself. His family hadn’t been able to outrun the Hunters. Patrick put the letter on the table with a shaking hand and reached under the table for the other thing. He pulled it out to see it was a small jewelry box. Patrick frowned and opened it out of curiosity. His eyes went wide at the simple ring nestled inside. It was beautiful and looked old. He shut it and shoved it back into the pocket of Pete’s jeans, trying not to think about what it looked like.

 

He went and made his tea and sat on the couch sipping at it until Pete came paddling out in a pair of boxers. He looked like hell and after that letter Patrick didn’t blame him but he wasn’t going to bring it up right now.

 

“Morning, Pete.”

 

“Morning.”

 

Pete mumbled back and went for the tea. He came back and sat beside Patrick. He looked at the paper on the table and frowned heavily. Patrick put his hand on Pete’s arm gently.

 

“Did you read it?”

 

“I didn’t mean to. I knocked it over and didn’t know what it was so I looked to see and when I saw...Pete, I’m so sorry.”

 

Pete shook his head and sipped his tea.

 

“I knew it was a possibility. I hoped but I knew it could’ve happened.”

 

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

 

Pete shrugged.

 

“I know that this kind of puts a bit of a damper on the day but I did get you a couple of presents if that’s ok.”

 

Patrick offered, hoping to at least distract him for a bit. Pete nodded.

 

“The one with no label is for you.”

 

Patrick looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

 

“It’s not much but I thought you’d like it.”

 

Patrick nodded and went to gather up all of the presents. He gave Pete his and sat down with the neatly wrapped gift from Pete. He watched as Pete opened them and smiled a little. He liked the tshirts and jeans, he cracked a light joke about not stealing Patrick’s shirts anymore. Patrick smiled and watched Pete open up the little package. He hadn’t made it on his own but he really tried. His mother helped him with it though. Pete pulled the little stuffed cat out of it’s little box and raised an eyebrow. He looked at it for a second and then giggled quietly as he realized what it was. The little fuzzy black kitten had little fangs and bat wings.

 

“This is really cute, Patrick, thank you.”

 

Pete leaned over and kissed Patrick on the cheek, pulling him over into his lap. He snuggled his face into Patrick’s neck and hugged him close. Patrick kissed the side of Pete’s head and leaned his head over onto Pete.

 

“Open yours.”

 

Pete said, his voice muffled by Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick picked up the present and gently unwrapped it to reveal a very old looking, ornate wooden box. Patrick looked at Pete with an eyebrow raised. Pete gave him a crooked little grin and reached around him to open the box. It twinkled quietly, if not a little clunkily, with a little song. Patrick smiled at it.

 

“It’s beautiful, where did you get this?”

 

“It was my mother’s actually. Father made it for her when they were young. I went back to the house to get it because I knew you’d like it. She gave it to me years ago to give to someone I care about. That was how I got the note.”

 

“You went to...Pete, the Hunters could have…”

 

“I know. I know but I just…”

 

Pete sighed heavily and Patrick kissed his cheek.

 

“It’s beautiful and I love it but please be careful.”

 

Pete nodded and hugged him tight as he watched the little figures dance with the tune.

 

“I had something else for you…”

 

Pete mumbled and Patrick looked at him. He reached for his jeans. Patrick’s heart skipped a beat and he watched wide eyed as Pete pulled the ring box out of the pocket.

 

“I...this was meant for someone...a long time ago but I never got the chance to give it to her. For the longest time that hurt but now I’m glad.”

 

Pete pushed Patrick out of his lap so he could face him. He opened the box and held it out to Patrick.

 

“Will you marry me?”

 

Patrick smiled brightly and nodded as he leaned forward and hugged Pete tight.

 

“Yes, Pete. Yes I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to add in the spellwork and things that Patrick will do later but I felt it was better to leave it here plus it's 4am and I'm very tired so...
> 
> I hope you guys liked it. 
> 
> \- Milo XOXO


End file.
